


I Will Rearrange the Stars, Pull Them Down To Where You Are

by blondekaspbrak



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Eddie Lives, Fix-it fic, Fluff, I'm Ignoring Canon To Cope, It - stephen king - Freeform, M/M, No Death Around Here, Reddie, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier is a Little Shit, Very Short Mention of Myra and Sonia Kaspbrak, adult reddie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-12-22 22:30:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21084155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blondekaspbrak/pseuds/blondekaspbrak
Summary: When the constant, erratic buzzing of a phone against the nightstand woke Richie up at six in the morning, he knew it wasn't good.





	I Will Rearrange the Stars, Pull Them Down To Where You Are

**Author's Note:**

> title from 'light' by sleeping at last

When the constant, erratic buzzing of a phone against the nightstand woke Richie up at six in the morning, he knew it wasn't good. "Ugh, fuck." He groaned, rubbing his eyes and feeling around for his glasses on the nightstand. Once he could actually see, he swiftly grabbed the phone so that the loud vibrations of it against wood wouldn't also wake Eddie, who was starting to stir a little. "Shh." He passed his fingers through Eddie's hair, to settle him again, and stood up with a sigh of relief, leaving the room to go downstairs to the kitchen. 

He sat down at the kitchen island, dialing his agent's number and holding the phone to his ear. The call was picked up almost immediately. "Hey, Matthew. What's going on? My phone's blowing up like crazy." There were a few moments of silence on the other end, and then,

_”You haven't seen?"_

"No, I just woke up. What do you mean?" 

_"I think you should probably check twitter."_

Richie went to grab his laptop from the coffee table in the living room and brought it back to the kitchen island, opening it up and going straight to twitter. His stomach swooped when he arrived at the issue, which happened to be a very big one. His timeline was plastered with a picture of him and Eddie standing in the street outside a club the night before. Whatever member of the paparazzi took the picture seemed to have caught them at the right time, because under any other circumstance, Richie would appreciate how happy they looked.

In it, Richie's hands were tucked into Eddie's back pockets, and Eddie was standing on his tiptoes, so that he could press their foreheads together. His hands were around the back of Richie's neck, holding him close. It was a bit hard to tell because the photo was taken with only the help of a street lamp near them as lighting, but they were both smiling, perhaps in the middle of drunken laughing. 

_Damn it,_ how had the paparazzi found them? They had decided they'd go to a secluded part of Los Angeles, where there was a little nightclub Richie had been going to for years to let loose and stay out of the press at the same time. Perhaps, one of the staff members had tipped the paparazzi off? He supposed it didn't really matter anymore, it was out.

_”Rich? You there?"_ Matthew's voice came through the receiver and reminded Richie that he was still on a call. He set his phone down on the counter, putting it onto loud speaker so that he could take his glasses off and run his hands over his face. 

"Yeah, I'm here." He mumbled, scrolling down his timeline, full of fans discussing the picture and what it meant. "I just don't understand how this happened, we were careful."

_"We can track down the person that took the picture, press charges if you want. This is an invasion of your privacy. We can make the picture go away."_ Matthew told him, he sounded sympathetic, and while Richie appreciated it, he knew that nothing could be done at this point.

He shook his head, forgetting that Matthew couldn't see him, "No, it doesn't matter now. It's too late, it's trending, everyone's seen it." He felt horrible, Eddie was going to be so upset.

_"I'm so sorry, Rich."_ There was silence on both ends for maybe half a minute, and then Matthew spoke up, _"Is it serious? You and the guy in the picture?"_ Richie was surprised that he didn't bring up the fact that it wasn't a woman he was with in the picture, and he was grateful that he wasn't making a big deal out of his undisclosed sexuality.

Richie couldn't help but smile, thinking of the man asleep upstairs in their bedroom. "Uh, yeah, it is. His name's Eddie. See, the thing is, um, we're married."

_"Wait... _what?_ Holy shit, Rich! You got _married?_ When?"_ He expected Matthew to be annoyed at him for keeping something like that from him, because in retrospect maybe it would've been a good idea to tell him, but he just sounded bewildered, even excited at this new information.

"Yeah, we got married... four months ago."

_"Is that why you took a break and disappeared back in June?"_

”Well, partly, I guess —I didn't leave with the intention of getting married. I had to go back to my home town in Maine, to um, take care of some stuff there. I met with my group of childhood friends, one of them being Eddie, and I guess it just brought up old feelings that I realized had actually always been there, even when we lost touch. A lot of stuff happened, and it lead to me telling Eddie how I feel, and it turned out that he feels the same.

We talked about it and realized that we'd already lost so much time that we could've spent together over the years, so we just decided to get married right then to make up for the lost time. I took him to Vegas so we didn't have to get married in our shitty home town." Richie laughed, "Not even sure they'd have allowed us to get married there. But yeah, anyway, we got married and he moved in with me here once my break was over."

He heard Matthew exhale on the other end of the line, chuckling softly out of what he assumed was astonishment. _"Woah, Rich, that's amazing. Congratulations, I'm really happy for you."_

”Thanks, Matthew, that means a lot to me." The great thing about Matthew was that when Richie was talking to him, it didn't feel like he was talking to his agent, it felt like he was just talking to a friend —a really good one. "So, do you think I should address it? The picture? What's the best thing to do in this circumstance?"

_"I know I'm your agent and I'm meant to tell you what to do in situations like this, but honestly? I think it's up to you this time. This is something really important to you, not one of the many ludicrous rumors the press is always ready to start. I'm sure you'll want to talk to Eddie about it, and you guys can decide yourself. Whatever you decide to do, I'm here for you no matter what the result of your choice is."_

At the mention of Eddie's name, Richie began to hear movement from upstairs, and he took the phone off speaker, picking it up to hold it against his ear. "Okay, I'll discuss it with Eddie and figure out what to do. And don't worry, I'll let you know what's happening before I do anything." The bedroom door opens upstairs, "Hey, I think Eddie just woke up upstairs, is it okay if I call you back later?"

_"Of course, Richie. Good luck, bye."_

"Thanks, talk to you later."

Richie shut the laptop when he heard footsteps descending the stairs, and then the soft padding of bare feet approaching the kitchen. He swiveled around in the kitchen island seat to be met with the site of Eddie in a large sweater of Richie's that almost swallowed him whole. His bare legs were on show, and his hair was a little tousled from sleep and curling at the tips. "You're up early," Eddie remarked, walking up to stand between Richie's legs. He slipped Richie's glasses from his nose and placed them on the counter, before cupping his face, pressing softhearted kisses to his cheeks, and then one to his mouth.

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _For a few moments, Richie completely forgot about the issue at hand. Eddie usually had that effect on him, he made everything feel like it was okay. He hummed quietly, and when Eddie pulled away, he chased his lips, bringing him back in by the careful grip he had on the back of Eddie's neck. "Mm, love you, Eds." He murmured when their lips departed with a soft pop, and Eddie opened his eyes, simpering down at him._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"I love you too, Rich." Eddie slipped his hands under Richie's t-shirt, his hands coming to rest on the taller man's love handles, his thumbs rubbing his skin sweet-temperedly. "So, what are you doing up at this time? You're usually asleep for a few more hours, are you writing new material?"_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _Suddenly Richie was back in reality and he frowned, reaching for his glasses and putting them back on. "Eds, I need to talk to you about something. Come sit with me." Richie picked up his laptop, and took Eddie's hand into his own, leading him to the sofa. He left the laptop on the coffee table and guided Eddie into his lap, curling his arms around his waist. "Just before I tell you, I want to make sure that you know you don't have to worry about anything, okay?" Eddie looked confused, but nodded slowly anyway. Richie sighed, "Last night, some paparazzi saw us outside the club, took a photo of us and leaked it."_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _Eddie's eyes widened, and his breath seemed to leave for a second, "Wait, what? What picture? Are you sure?" _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"Yeah, Eds, I'm sure. I have no idea how this happened. This isn't the way I wanted to tell people." _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _Eddie leaped up from Richie's lap and opened the laptop which was already opened on twitter, and he almost completely froze up at the sight of the offending picture all over the screen. "Oh, God." He turned back to look at Richie, a panicked look in his eyes, "What are we gonna do, Richie?"_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"Hey, hey, come here, baby. It's okay," Richie grabbed his hand, the other on his cheek. "We can handle this in whatever way you want to, I know this isn't what you wanted, it's not what I wanted either, and I'm so sorry that it happened." Eddie didn't say anything for a few minutes, Richie had to assume he was just processing._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"It's not your fault, Rich, I just, um, it feels really... alien? In just a few minutes I went from having seven people in my life knowing I'm gay to having millions knowing I'm in a relationship with you. I've kept it hidden for so long, what do I do now that everyone knows?" Eddie pressed his forehead to Richie's chest, and soon enough he felt lithe fingers stroking his hair._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _Richie kissed the crown of his head, "Well, Eds, I talked to my agent and he says that it's up to us in this situation. We've just been outed to the world, I don't think there's just one way to deal with this. We can ignore it or address it, whatever you want. I'll be happy with whatever you're comfortable with."_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"Really? Are you sure? Because if you—"_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"Really, I mean it. We've got each other, I know that we can work through whatever comes next, alright?" Richie tilted Eddie's chin up so that their eyes met, to make sure Eddie was listening to him, "I love you, and that's more important than anything."_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _Eddie rubbed his nose against Richie's, kissing him on the mouth, over and over. "I love you, too." He climbed onto Richie, wrapping one arm around Richie's back and his legs around his torso, his other hand cupping the back of Richie's neck, pulling him in closer, "Now, kiss me, please. I wanna forget this for a few minutes."_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ * * * * * _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _Two days later, a new picture was trending, yet another of Richie and Eddie. Only this time, it was one they'd wanted people to see. Richie had posted it to both Instagram and Twitter, captioning it both times with 'ain't he cute? ;)' and tagged Eddie in it._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _Richie took the picture the morning after the paparazzi incident when they were still lying in bed. It was taken in the middle of a pleasant moment, Richie grinning at the camera as Eddie laughed into his neck, clearly amused at whatever he had said. Eddie's hand laying on Richie's chest, his silver wedding band visible on his ring finger and it was a little harder to tell, but just off to the right of the picture, barely in the frame, was Richie's hand around Eddie's shoulder, and a wedding band was just noticeable there, too. He decided to wait until the next day when they were sure they wanted to post it. _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _The replies to the posts were overwhelmingly positive, congratulating them and questioning the wedding rings, and even though there were a few homophobes lurking, Richie nor Eddie could bring themselves to care. The whole situation felt too freeing for them to let some bigot drag them down._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"Hey Mike, hey Bill, how are you guys?" Richie grinned once he answered the Skype call, the faces of two of his best friends appearing on the screen. "Eds, come downstairs! Mike and Bill are calling!" He shouted upstairs, and almost immediately heard quick footsteps on the stairs._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"Oh! Hey guys, I'm so glad to see your faces! How are you?" Eddie gushed as he came to sit next to Richie at the counter, pushing his chair closer to Richie's so that they would both be in the frame. Richie slipped his hand into Eddie's and leaned his cheek against his husband's shoulder._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"We're really good, thanks. We're in Florida, right now, just landed yesterday." Mike told them, and Bill nodded next to him, they both looked so excited, so content. It was comforting to see them like that, to see that they were both finally happy after all this time._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _Eddie gasped, "God, that's great! I remember you always wanted to go there. Is it what you hoped it would be?" _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"It is, it's better than I thought it would be. Bill's here, too, which is a bonus." Mike glanced at Bill, seeming satisfied with the blush blooming across his skin. Bill chuckled softly, looking away but still holding his hand out for Mike to take._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"Wow, guys, didn't pin you as the sappy type," Richie remarked, causing Bill to scoff._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"A-As if you can talk, Rich! I have l-like an e-e-entire lifetime of memories to show that n-no one is sappier than you!" The author retorted, and Richie just shrugged, tilting his head up just slightly to repeatedly peck Eddie's cheek with his lips, wrapping his arms around his waist. "Speaking of, how are you two doing? You know, with everything that's happened in the past few days."_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"Actually, we're really great, right, Eds?"_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"Yeah! Obviously, I was horrified when the paparazzi posted that picture everywhere, but it feels kind of nice to not have to put in so much effort to hide such a big part of my life from people. Not exactly the way I wanted to tell people, same with Rich, but I guess, on the bright side, I don't have to overthink how I'm gonna come out." Richie loved how Eddie always looked for a silver lining, always made everything seem better. "And it seems like the majority of people are really supportive, so it's a bit easier to ignore any negative reaction because of that."_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"I'm so happy for you two, you deserve to be happy." Mike sighed, "It's satisfying to see you guys like this after watching you flirt and dance around each other for our entire childhood. I think we can speak for Bev, Ben, and Stan too when I say that we were all waiting for it." Bill nodded in agreement._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"Thank you so much, guys, and the same to you, you deserve to be happy together." _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _The rest of the call passed smoothly, the couples telling each other about what they'd been up to in the months since they'd been together. Mike and Bill promised to come and visit Richie and Eddie in Los Angeles when their traveling brought them to California. They then all said their goodbyes and hung up. _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"You know, I'm really proud of you." Richie murmured into Eddie's ear once they were on the sofa, Richie lying back against the arm of the sofa with Eddie between his legs, resting back on him. "You've been really optimistic about everything and it's honestly fucking impressive, Eds, I wouldn't be finding it this easy if you weren't with me."_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"Yeah?" Eddie's lips curved up into a smile and Richie nodded, brushing his nose against Eddie's, "I'm proud of you too. We've both come a really long way from Derry, and I think it's kind of amazing that we've found acceptance with everything, given the type of place we grew up in. It's strange to look back and remember how hard I was trying to hide that I was gay, and my big fat crush on you."_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _Richie's eyes lit up and for a moment, Eddie saw the child in him —the fourteen-year-old, buck-toothed lively child who pinched Eddie's cheek and lifted him up and spun him around just for a reaction. "A big fat crush, huh?" Eddie nodded, humming to confirm. "Well, I had a big fat crush on you, too, Eds. Your little red shorts drove sixteen year old me crazy." He booped Eddie's nose, watching his face bloom scarlet like the eventide of a night in California, before he lightly swatted at Richie's arm, immediately rubbing his hand over the area he'd hit._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"I did only wear them for so long to get your attention, it was subconscious at the time." Eddie admitted, "Nice to know that it worked, though." _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"I bet you could still pull them off, I could buy you a pair, perhaps?" Richie grinned, slipping his hands under Eddie's shirt, running his fingers up the small of his back, eliciting a shiver from him —getting a reaction from Eddie was always satisfying._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _To his surprise, Eddie didn't scoff or push him away, he just giggled, face quickly flushing red, "Hm, maybe." Then he tittered softly, shaking his head, "The things I do for you."_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"It's because you love me!" Richie singsonged, dragging out the last syllable and gently pressing his fingers into Eddie's sides, pinning him to the sofa by perching on his thighs as he tickled him. Eddie was beautiful like this, he thought —face erubescent with merriment, dewdrops in his waterline, graceful hands pushing at Richie's as he tried to shout at Richie through his laughter. "Say it, Eds! If you admit you love me most in the whole world, I'll stop!" He grinned cheekily._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"Okay, okay! I love you most in the world! Truce, truce!" Eddie gasped out, coming down from his constant giggling and deflating back into the couch, bringing Richie with him. "You're absolutely insufferable sometimes." He shook his head up at Richie, but the empty words didn't seem to have any effect on him._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"Well, I'm very sorry, Spaghetti, but we're married, you're stuck with me now. No returns or exchanges." When Richie murmured it to him, Eddie realized that it was true. They were together now, they could be with each other forever, they would be. Never in his life had he ever thought he would get to this point. After his mother had guilted him into marrying Myra, it looked like he was destined to spend the rest of his life an unhappy, closeted man, never able to live his truth or be with whoever his heart desired. Eddie looks at Mike's phonecall as the single best thing to have happened to him, it was the start of freeing him from the chains of his past, his abuse, his deep repression. It led him back to Richie, the one his heart had yearned for, even when his name was always just on the tip of his tongue and all he could remember was knobbly hands and a pair of cracked glasses. Nothing could come between them now, not the clown, not his mother, not the press. Richie made him feel like he could take on anything._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"I wouldn't have it any other way, Rich."_ _ _ _


End file.
